Blessing
by RasenganRendan
Summary: The Invasion has failed and they have fled to the Western Air Temple. But while they are there, Toph is concerned about her feelings for acertain Boomerang Boy. Even after a talk with Katara and a rock hard determination, will she be able to tell him? RR
1. Blessing

Okay, this is my first Avatar fanfic, I'm normally only doing Naruto ones, but I've gotten so into this that this was the only thing that could get me to get back into my other fanfics and break the Writer's Block I've been on.

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Avatar.

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They had lost. Plain and simple, they had lost. How foolish had they been to think that the Fire Nation wouldn't have thought that if an invasion were to happen, that it would take place of the Day of Black Sun? Now most of their allies were captured and there was very little that the small group of kids could do to save them. It had been a couple hours since they finally arrived at the Western Air Temple and everyone was either skulking around and thinking about what had happened that day, or frantically freaking out like a certain twelve year old Avatar.

But not Toph, sure she had the events of the day swirling around in her head, but many other things as well. She was currently sitting on a ledge that she had been told opened out to a view of 'the whole world', as Sokka had remarked to her on their ascent up to the temple. "Are you okay?" The Earthbender suddenly heard behind her, causing her to jump slightly at the surprise.

Once her senses came back to her, she noticed that it was Katara who had startled her so. 'Was I really that deep in thought that I didn't even notice her?' She thought as the girl clad in what she had been told was blue proceeded to sit next to her. "What are you doing out here Sugar Queen? Shouldn't you be trying to calm Aang down? He's been freaking out since we got here." Toph spat out, half in retaliation for catching her off guard, and half just for the hell of it.

After hearing a sigh, Toph could tell from the way the girl moved that she was looking out over what must have been a beautiful sunset. "Wow, it's beautiful! You sure can pick a spot Toph…"

"You're starting to sound like your brother…" She said with her sarcasm laced voice, yet also with a small smile on her face.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Toph; I didn't mean it like that! It's been a stressful day…and it just slipped…" She started to stammer out.

"It's okay, really. I kind of like it when that happens?" She said with a smile as her thoughts drifted back to the many times a warrior with a wolf-tail had forgotten.

Katara's eyebrow went up in confusion at hearing that. "Like it? How is that?"

"I just do okay!" After sitting there a moment in silence Toph figured that she didn't need to add to the strain of the day with being defensive. "I like it when Sokka does it…" She said meekly, Katara turning to her in slight surprise because she had never heard Toph talk like that to her. "It makes me feel normal, when Sokka forgets I don't see it as him 'forgetting', but as him seeing me as a normal person. He doesn't act like most everyone else does if they know I'm blind, he sees me for me and I like it."

Katara sat there, just taking in what the girl had told her when a small smile came over her. "You should tell him how you feel." Hearing that, Toph snapped her head to where she figured Katara's was and stared a little bit off target with a gaping mouth. This of course caused Katara to let out a light giggle at her antics. "Come on Toph, you didn't seriously think it was your big secret or something did you?" Getting yet another bit of silence from the girl she figured that Toph had thought it was a secret. "We Water Tribe people are very perceptive as a matter of fact. You didn't think that anyone would pick up on you consistently clinging to him on Appa? Or how you missed him the most out of everyone when he was sword training?"

Toph just sat there gaping at the Waterbender until her brain reloaded. "Well you suck at being 'perceptive' for your own business! Sokka is horrible at it and so are you!" She grumbled at Katara, a blush forming on her face for being found out.

"What do you mean by that!?" Katara said with a glare.

"It took you this long to figure out Twinkle Toes has it bad for you?!" Toph just grinned when she felt Katara's heartbeat skyrocket and felt her tapping her fingers nervously against the ground. "Looks like we're even now, but you really should know better than to think that I wasn't going to pick up your increased heart rate after you kissed him on top of that "Sub" thing we rode in!" She remarked with laughter in her voice.

"Damn her!" Katara said under her breath.

"I heard that too…"

"Enough about me…seriously, why don't you tell him?" She asked while reaching her hand over and putting it softly on Toph's shoulder.

Quickly swatting Katara's hand off of her shoulder, Toph crossed her arms and sighed heavily. "Because there's no use in it. He would never see me the way I see him, he's all uppity about Suki now…you heard him on Appa, Aang told you what Azula said and how he reacted."

"You really think that?" She asked, getting a slow nod back from the girl next to her. Katara sighed as she thought back on her discussion with Aang earlier.

"_Why do you think he went off the handle about Suki" The Avatar asked Katara._

"_He wants to prove himself wrong…He thinks he's cursed that any girl he falls for is going to end up dead. It happened with Yue, and he thought it did with Suki. He wants to prove to himself that he isn't cursed so that he can move on." She stated, getting an understanding nod from Aang._

"Of course I believe that!" Toph said loudly, throwing her hands in the air and plopping all the way to the ground, laying her forearm over her face. "Why else would he be so crazy about it? I'm just his friend in his eyes; I'm not match for Suki…" She said weakly, it was a good thing her arm was in front of her face. She didn't want Katara to see her tears as they leaked from her sightless eyes.

"I may not be observant on my own matters, but I know my brother. You've got it all wrong; Suki is no match for you." This caught Toph's attention; she sat up and secretly whipped her eyes cleared of tears as she did. "There's nothing really going for him and Suki anyway. Any attempt at a relationship between them would fail horribly; they've only spent like three days total together. One of which he resented he because she beat him up, another he was being to overprotective for any real bonding to happen. The only thing that keeps her in his mind is that she gave him his first kiss."

Toph took all of this in, and couldn't help but crack a smile. Maybe there was a chance for her after all. "Besides, I've never seen him bond with anyone more than he does with you. You two do everything together, he talks with you all the time, and like you said about him not seeing you as just a blind person, he feels the same way about you not thinking of him as just a non-bender. Plus, he told you that thing about out mother…he's never told anyone that, let alone even talk about her with anyone other than a passing reference, not even with me."

"You heard that!?!"

"I might have…accidentally heard it…I was taking a bath in the lake under the cliff you were on. What other reason would I have for suddenly wanting to go do some crazy scam with you?" She remarked with a sly smile. "He cares for you a lot more than you would know, probably more than he knows."

They sat there in silence for about a minute before Toph let out a satisfied sigh. "Thanks Katara…" Katara was just about to tell her that it was no problem when she was suddenly punched rather hard on the shoulder. "If you tell anyone about this I'm going to bend you off this mountain! You got it!?"

"Of course." She said while she rubbed her now pained arm. Then they both heard a shriek that could only come from Sokka and the laughter of the people inside the Temple. "I better go; it sounds like Haru is freaking Sokka out with his facial hair again." She said as she stood up and dusted off herself. "I'll talk to Sokka a little bit once everyone calms down in there."

"Thanks…but don't tell him too much!" Toph said to the Waterbender, with a nod Katara left and went back to where everyone else was. Leaving Toph to herself, the moment she was alone again Toph slid her bracelet down and off her arm and began to bend it like she always would do when she was bored. A smile breaking her face as she bent the greatest gift she had ever been given into a heart and then quickly back in to its original form only with the addition of a small heart on the center of it. With a larger smile she slid it back onto her arm and made her way inside to get something to eat.

The earlier feeling that the entire group had shared upon arriving at the Temple was washed away over dinner. Everyone was soon laughing and having a great time while Sokka decided to tell all of the newcomers to the group the story of their journey along with in the specific stories that were about each new member. Toph had a great time, some stories she had heard slightly different, or not at all, such as the story pertaining to The Duke. But she couldn't stop the huge smile that was on her face when he retold her story, how he had acted before she knew him and his antics at Earth Rumble 6. But she also noticed that it was this story that he took the most time and care into telling, almost like it was one of his favorites.

But eventually it got late and the stories got to the present, everyone then wandered off to their own little areas to fall asleep and hope that none of the Fire Nation's War Balloons found where they were. Toph and made her way back outside and close to the ledge she had been earlier. With a flick of her wrist a Toph sized Earth-tent rose from the ground. But she wasn't exactly tired yet, only wanting to get it up so that when she was tired, she wouldn't wake anyone up with the Earthbending.

She just sat there, for hours just captivated by her thoughts. So many things running through her mind, but there was always one thing that her thoughts always raced back to…Sokka. She couldn't deny it any longer; at first she had thought it just a crush. But over time he had became much more than that. Even though in her mind she knew that to say it out loud would sound crazy, even to her, it just wasn't something the rough and tough Toph would say. But in her mind it bounced around like The Boulder's ego on Boulder Night and she couldn't keep it quiet, she loved Sokka. She loved him and it felt so right, but at the same time it was the scariest thing she had ever thought. With the new development with Azula and Suki, she was not only afraid of telling him and being hurt herself, but also hurting him by possibly making his heart confused.

She was suddenly rudely brought out of her thoughts when a body plopped down next to her and gave her a little shake. "Earth to Toph! You in there?" Sokka said as he shook her shoulders.

"Damn, twice in one day!" She said under her breath, cursing at just how much her mind was distracting her. "Yeah what do you want Snoozles?"

Sokka just let out a laugh. "Ah, it's been a while since you've called me that!" He sat there in silence for a moment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. He had just had a small talk with Katara that was really messing with his head. She had told him that she heard his little talk with Toph about their mother and had asked why he never told her that. He had just stuttered around and not really come up with an answer, but then she huffed at him and asked him why he had chosen to tell Toph before storming off with an odd smile on her face.

He had originally decided to ignore her and just go to bed, but it kept nagging in the back of his mind. Why had he told Toph? He then took time to sort out his mind, but along the way to sorting he was bombarded with all of the different things they had done together and sort of realized some things. Also the image of her smile at dinner when he told her story kept popping up to the forefront of his mind.

"Well maybe I should call you it more often if it gets you to zone out like that!" he heard Toph say in her normal sarcastic voice, snapping him out of his thoughts. "So what _do_ you want?"

"What? Can't a guy just come and talk with one of his best friends when he can't sleep?" He replied in his own brand of sarcasm, a smile growing on his face when he saw her own form at his joke. "But seriously…I can out to…apologize I guess."

"Apologize? For what?" She asked in a concerned voice, she could feel his heartbeat speed up slightly as well and a nervous twitch in his right leg. From her experience with the Boomerang Boy, the left leg meant he was in trouble if Katara found out, his hand meant he was stressed out about upcoming events, and the twitching of his toes meant he was hungry and tired of waiting for dinner. But she had never made a connection with a right leg twitch.

"For what happened with Azula, I wasted the last of our time trying to pry information out of her when we could have been busting into the Fire Lord's chamber." He then said with a hung head.

Toph instantly knew that a right leg twitch must mean guilt. But when speaking up to respond, she couldn't make herself speak louder than what must have sounded like a depressed mumble. "Its fine, you care for her and was worried. I understand."

Sokka just looked at the girl to his left, hearing her speak in that tone almost hurt him. There was a hint of pain in her voice and for some reason he desperately wanted to make it all better again. "I won't let you down again Toph, I promise."

'Let me down? Oh crap! Has he figured me out!? Quick, I've got to change the subject!' She screamed in her mind, but lucky for her Sokka's wandering eyes did that for her.

"Wow, it's beautiful out here! You sure found a great spot, very romant…I mean" He corrected himself in a panic. "What I meant was…it's nice out here."

Toph's face just lit up with a ferocious blush. The first thing the boy had thought to comment on was that it was a romantic spot! Maybe her mind was just playing tricks on her, but she had felt his hear rate skyrocket up as soon as he had caught himself, it had gone up to the same pattern that Katara had when ever she would have something Aang related said to her that came close to having romantic implications. With a smile adding onto her blush she reached out and gave him a playful gentle nudge to the shoulder. "I'm blind idiot…"

'How could I have forgotten again!?! She must hate it when I do that!' He thought while he shook his head in disappointment at himself. "Sorry…."

"What does it look like?" She said quietly in response, Sokka just looked oddly at her. He had been expecting a wave of rocks or perhaps a hard punch, but not this.

"Well…there's a few clouds scattered across the sky just, between them you can see millions of stars twinkling behind them. The view goes on for miles; you can see several smaller mountains that are light up slightly by the nighttime light."

Toph could feel him relaxing as he described the night sky to her. In her mind she was taking everything in and trying to paint a picture of the moment in her mind. With a slight blush she scooted a little bit closer to him. Then with a firm decision in her mind to go for it, she lightly placed her hand over his as it sat on the ground next to him. Feeling the warm hand laid on top of his he abruptly stopped his description and Toph could feel his heart rate skyrocket once more. Leaning closer to him, she cemented her plan in her mind and spoke, not taking her hand off his. She was trusting what Katara had told her and was going to do this. "Is the moon out tonight?"

Sokka just smiled at the sight of her hand on his, it just seemed right for some reason. Lifting his hand up slightly, he grasped her's and intertwined their fingers. "Yeah, she's out and is about half way in the waning cycle. Why?"

Toph's smile broadened; once more he referred to the Moon as a 'she', Katara had told her the story of Princess Yue a while ago, so she understood. It would work perfectly with her plan. "Did you know that in the Earth Kingdom they pray to the Moon?" She could feel Sokka shake his head in a 'no' response, once again forgetting she couldn't see him. "Everyone knows that the Moon gives Waterbender's their power, so the connection is made with water. The people would ask the Moon to bring rain if there was a drought, or to stop floods. She's an important aspect of our culture, just like your's." Sokka heard her refer to the Moon in the same way he did and raised his eyebrow in confusion, not thinking she knew the story. "I've asked the Moon for something before…" She said almost silently, almost breaking and not going through with her plan, but she was determined and inched even closer to him.

"What did you ask for?" Sokka asked, both of them now looking at each other and totally in the moment.

Leaning in close, their lips mere inches apart, Toph decided to seal the deal. "Her blessing for this…" After those words she closed the distance and kissed him. It was a light and gentle kiss, full of raw feelings, but soon it grew as Sokka returned the kiss. It soon became heated as Toph poured her entire heart into and Sokka received every ounce of it. She had released his hand and had slipped her hands around his neck, pulling them closer together as their kiss deepend. Sokka was in heaven; never before had he shared a kiss like this with anyone, let alone experienced the feeling that was now exploding from his chest. It felt like it was meant to be and he embraced it, he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly.

Finally they broke, both of them gasping for air yet still not releasing one another. It was Sokka who first broke the silence when he pulled Toph into his lap so that their embrace could deepen. "I think she gives her blessing, and I would know. She's a close personal friend of mine!"

Toph just let out a small giggle and laid her head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat going crazy. Swallowing hard she took a chance and decided to finish was she had started, there was now no doubt in her mind that he liked her, now all that was left was to let him know just how much she cared. "I love you Sokka…"

His eyes went wide when he heard that, no girl had ever told him that, not Yue or Suki. But he didn't respond, he just held her tighter and smiled. Toph then smiled as well, he didn't need to respond, his heart had done that for him. She had felt the truth of the matter in its rapid beating and smiled, knowing that even if his mouth couldn't say it, his heart always would.

After a couple minutes Sokka realized that Toph had drifted off to sleep in his arms. Being careful not to wake her, he scooted them both back until he was being propped up by one of the walls of Toph's now unused Earth-tent. He moved around slightly so that he could get comfortable, which was very easy to do when you have someone like Toph in your arms. Once he was settled he looked down at Toph, who by now was clinging tightly to his chest with a smile on her face. Reaching down he planted a gentle kiss on her forehead and smiled. 'I love you too, Toph.' He thought what his mouth had wanted to say earlier, but it wasn't long before sleep took him, it was just the beginning to their new journey together. A journey that he hoped wouldn't get found out in the morning.

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**Well I hope you all enjoyed that, I'm a huge Tokka supporter and it's my fav ship in Avatar. This might go beyond a oneshot if enough people like it. So please review and tell me what you think and what you liked so I can gauge if I should make another chapter.**


	2. Complications

**Ho Ho Ho! Santa decided to bring everyone another chapter of Blessing! And to make RR decide to make this into a story. I'm still smoothing out the possible plot to it, but I think it will be good. As always I want to hear from everyone on what they think of the chapter! So please read and review!**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Avatar.

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Sokka groaned as he opened his eyes to the growing light of the morning. Suddenly his eyes shot completely wide as he realized that everything that had happened wasn't a dream. The proof was clinging tightly to him with a smile on her face. Frantically, Sokka looked around to make sure that no one was anywhere near them or in a place that they were visible, but lucky for him they were close enough to the edge of the overlook that no one could possibly see them. "Mmm…Sokka…" He then heard come from Toph's still asleep mouth.

His entire body seemed to be washed over with an incredibly warm sensation at the realization that she was dreaming about him. Just sitting there with Toph in his arms would have been just fine for Sokka; he would have no qualms if they just sat there the entire day. But Sokka was nervous about the others possibly finding them and learning about his new romance, he considered just quietly getting up ad leaving but quickly shook the idea out of his head. 'If she's dreaming of me…and I'm not here when she wakes up then she might think last night was just a dream…that would be bad, not only would she get very defensive if I brought anything up about it, but she would probably go and tell Katara!' Holding his fist up before his face with determination and confidence in his plan he reached down and took a hold of the girl's shoulder. 'I need to be here, I won't leave her side again! Plus, we might need to talk some things out…' He thought before beginning to gently shake the sleeping Earthbender.

"Hmm?" Toph groaned in a sleepy stupor as she felt someone shaking her. Slowly her senses came back to her and her eyes shot open at the fact that there was a second heartbeat right next to her, more specifically, right next to her ear which was resting on something warm. She quickly raised her head and looked in the general direction of where she figured the person's head was. "S-Sokka?!" She stammered out when she realized who it was, not a second later her mind kicked in and the truth of the situation was very apparent to the girl. Her jaw dropped open when she realized that it wasn't a dream, but in fact all too real. She had kissed Sokka…she had told him she loved him!

"Well it looks like you remembered…" Sokka said with an odd nervous laugh, Toph's body still refused to move, her voice refused to speak, and her mind had gone completely blank. Sokka just raised an eyebrow to the girl's blank face, but then his face changed into a mischievous smirk as his mind wrapped around what was going on and how he could deal with it. Taking his free hand he closed Toph's open mouth and then slowly leaned down and planted a gently loving kiss on her lips. His whole body feeling like it was surging with a lightning assault from Azula.

Feeling his lips on her's again she simple melted into it, cherishing every second of it, it was the one instance where she felt like she had no control what so ever. The feeling of being connected with Sokka, body, mind, and spirit, was all that Toph had wanted and now that she had it the feeling was the one thing she could giver herself completely to. After what seemed like ages to the two love birds, Sokka broke the kiss and smiled as he looked at Toph's satisfied face. "I could get used to that…" She finally said. "I could really get used to that!"

"I'm glad, I could too and I intend to…but Toph…" He said before pausing, Toph just moved her head to face his with an inquisitive look on it. How she managed to do facial expressions so well never ceased to amaze the boy. "Could you get off me, my arm is asleep and I don't exactly think we want to cause a big hubbub with the news of us."

"Oh, sorry." She remarked as she shifted her weight and leaned off of Sokka, turning and sitting she ended up facing him with her legs crossed. "You're right, we shouldn't tell anyone yet. I wouldn't want people to think I've gone all mushy woshy over you. What would people think if they found out that Toph the Great got all girlie over a Water Tribe boy who has a thing for boomerangs and meat?!" She said as she laughed.

There is was…that wit, sarcasm, and humor that set Toph apart form any girl that Sokka had ever met. But he couldn't let her have all the fun. "Then again…" He said as he rubbed his chin in a pondering pose. "What would people think about me if they found out I got the greatest Earthbender in the world to fall in love with me?"

Toph's face just lit up like a tomato, it was true…she had fallen in love with him. But hearing that word and its meaning out in the open would take some time to get used to. Then with a smile she slammed her fist into his shoulder, gaining a groan of pain in response. "That was for making me blush…the greatest Earthbender alive does Not blush!" Then quickly she leaned over and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "And that was because I do love a boomerang head meat lover…" Now it was Sokka's turn to blush, Toph just let out a laugh when she felt his heartbeat speed up and felt the heat growing from his cheeks. "But let's get some breakfast, I'm starving!"

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Breakfast sure had been interesting, as the two love birds soon found out. Just as they were about to sit down next to one of the big fountains that seemed to be everywhere, randomly and totally out of the blue…Zuko showed up. But eventually everything went from bad to worse when Toph's feet got burned and Combustion Man showed up. But the worst was when nobody acknowledged that Sokka was the one who beat Combustion Man! But at the moment Sokka was leading Zuko to his temporary room inside the Air Temple. "So…here you go. Home sweet home…I guess, you know…for now." Pausing at the door he groaned at the awkwardness of the talk while Zuko entered into the room. "Uh…unpack…lunch? Uhhh…welcome aboard?" Slapping his hand on his face as he left he soon found Aang hanging around near the room. "That was SO weird!"

"I know what you mean…" The Avatar said quietly as they decided to walk off when they saw Katara enter the room with a very foul look on her face.

It wasn't long before Sokka found Toph, she was sitting comfortably on what looked like a very old couch with her feet sitting in a bucket of warm water. The blue clad boy smiled as he sneakily made his way towards the now totally blind girl. It was all going perfectly, and then suddenly the silence of the room was broken by the girl's voice. "You do know I can still hear you Snoozles?"

"Damn, and here I thought that I would actually be able to sneak up on Toph the Great!" He said while flailing his arms enthusiastically at the 'Toph the Great' joke before plopping down on the couch next to her with a now very apparent glare on his face.

Toph just leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder while placing her hand over his heart. "What's got you all uppidy?" She asked when she noticed how his heartbeat was acting.

Rolling his eyes, Sokka leaned his head back to look at the ceiling, even when she really couldn't see, Earthbending and all, she could read him like a book. "That bastard shouldn't be here, he's dangerous!"

"I thought you said… "Hey, all I want is to defeat the Fire Lord. If you think this will help, then go ahead Aang." And I quote." Toph said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Aang really doesn't seem to have that much of a problem with him teaching him Firebending…but Katara really hates that guy. I have to at least look like I'm either impassive or on slightly supportive of him staying. Otherwise Katara will just think that it is more reason for her to whip his ass." He replied in a unenthusiastic voice.

"That's really not like you…after what it sounded like he did to you guys."

Sitting forward Sokka put his hands together under his chin and rested his elbows on his knees, all the while wearing a very agitated look. "This is bigger than I am, Aang has to learn Firebending and at the moment Zuko is the only one who can do that. Despite my feelings on the matter it's not my place to make him leave." Toph just sat there with a slightly shocked look on her face; she had never heard Sokka sound so…so mature. "Besides, my grudge can wait until after Aang has learned Firebending…he hurt the girl I love and I'll never forgive him!" He blurted out, his voice laced with anger as well as love, a rather odd combination but it was easy for Toph to pick up on.

Then her mind clicked…what had he said? "L-Love?" She almost whispered.

With her hand on his chest she could feel his heart going crazy, it was very apparent that he hadn't meant to say it, that it had just slipped out. "Uhh…whoops!" He said nervously as he rubbed his neck. "Sorry I didn't say it last nig…" He began but then was suddenly jumped on as Toph kissed him hard. Their mouths melding in pure bliss, both oblivious to the surrounding as their entire beings were focused on the feelings that they both were experiencing through the kiss. But like the others before it, this one was far different from any other that they had shared. The first one had been a longing kiss, with Toph pouring her heart into it in admittance of how she felt for Sokka. The second had been a soft warm kiss that melted her to her very core; it had destroyed nearly every emotional defense she had put up. She still didn't know if she liked that completely, here she was emotionally exposed and was completely open with Sokka, even though it was only when they were alone. For the first time in her life she truly felt vulnerable, like she would be hurt beyond repair at any moment, but she didn't care. She loved him and he had just said he loved her. That was what made this kiss different, with his true feelings now known; it felt almost like a promise. A promise that nothing bad would happen to her as long as he was around, be it protecting her from her own vulnerability and insecurities, to cheering her on so that she could fight to her full potential. It was a feeling that completed her and she never wanted to lose it…no, she wouldn't let it go away. Even if she had to change some, she would do almost anything to keep him by her side and her by his.

Breaking the kiss, Sokka stared deep into her pale unseeing green eyes. He knew that there was little that he could actually do to protect her, being that she was the most powerful Earthbender on the planet, but he vowed to himself that he would do anything and everything in his power to do what he could. "I love you Toph…" He said without thinking, suddenly finding himself in yet another heart melting kiss. "But we still need to keep this from the others…there is so much stuff going on, I don't want it to distract anyone from what needs to be done."

Toph nodded in acknowledgement, knowing that it was indeed what needed to be done. But at the moment she really didn't care, she was now sitting comfortably on the boy's lap with her arms around his neck and her forehead against his. But then suddenly the moment was ruined by the clatter of plates falling to the ground and food splattering on the floor. Quickly moving his head to the side Sokka was horrified to see a person in the doorway with his eyes bug eyed and his mouth hanging open slack jawed in shock, only for him to disappear in an instant. Quickly moving Sokka jumped out of Toph's hold and put her back onto the couch and took off after the boy. "Teo! Wait!!!"

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**Ohhh, what's going to happen next!? Well I decided to make this into a story, my Naruto story isn't coming along as easily as I'd want and this just came out. Please review and maybe it will finally get me to get along on TAC! Thanks for reading, I hoped you liked it!!**


	3. Plans

**Well I decided to get this out for New Years, plus it has been rattling around in my head for a while and I need to empty my head so I can focus on getting back to TAC.**

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Avatar. 

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"Teo!! Wait!!" Sokka yelled again as he chased down the wheelchair bound boy. But despite his call, the boy kept rolling along, getting faster and faster. Sokka looked to see that they had moved out of the hallway that he had originally chased him down and were now on a path way that seemed to slope downwards, going to some unknown place. Apparently the place had been designed so that the monks could Airbend their way along the pathways with ease and speed; a fact that Teo was using to his advantage.

Then all of a sudden the enclosed slope opened up into a huge room that almost made Sokka stop his chase and marvel at the sight of it. "Teo please! Toph and I want to keep our relationship secret at the moment! We didn't mean for anyone to see us like that!" He yelled as they were about to exit the chamber and enter another corridor.

Once a bit inside the new hallway, Teo came to a screeching halt and managed to whip his chair around while braking so that he was now facing Sokka with a scowl on his face. Sokka just raised an eyebrow at the demonstration of his wheelchair abilities. "Wow, nice stop…" He said quietly to the boy.

"What gives you the right?" He almost snarled at Sokka.

"What right?" Sokka asked, not exactly understanding what he was talking about, but then something inside of him snapped in realization. Could Teo like Toph? Was that it? Was the wannabe Airbender jealous?

"What makes you think its right to go around doing…doing** that?** With what's going on? My father…a man who I love and who respects YOU a great deal! Is captive by the Fire Nation! Everyone here has someone who is in one of their prisons! And…and you're not even thinking about how to save them are you!? You've obviously started something with Toph and it's all your mind is on!" He yelled, tears beginning to form on his eyes as he slammed his fists down on his armrests for emphasis. "You're the idea-guy! You come up with the plan! But how are we supposed to accomplish anything if your off doing that!?!" He screamed in rage.

A scowl crossed Sokka's face as he walked up to Teo, anger plastered on Sokka's face. Then in a fast motion Sokka slugged the boy hard on the side of the face, knocking him out of his chair and onto the ground. "Who do you think you are!? You're right! We all **do** have people we know being held captive by the Fire Nation! You think you're alone in that or something? Or did you forget that MY father and most of my whole TRIBE are there as well? I'm surprised I can even think about Toph with all of that going through my head! And on top of that there is someone that has been in those prisons far longer than out parents have been…and I don't even know if she's alive anymore! So don't talk to me about what's going one! I KNOW!"

Teo was speechless, his hand resting on where he had been punched. With a sigh, Sokka reached down and helped him back into his chair. "Hey I'm sorry about that…but that is exactly the reason I wanted to keep me and Toph a secret for now. There are too many things going on for everyone to make a big fuss out of it…just like you did."

"Sorry…" Sokka heard meekly come from Teo as he was about to turn around and go back the way they came. "I guess I jumped to conclusions a bit, and I didn't know how much this was affecting you…sorry Sokka."

"Don't worry about it, it's done with…to tell the truth. I probably would have reacted the same way if I saw you doing that with Toph…well probably after I kicked your ass." He laughed, only to shrink back when he realized that he had hit Teo. "Oh yeah, I didn't mean to hit you that hard, just to get your attention."

"Oh you got my attention; I've never been hit that hard before!" He said as he continued to rub his cheek. "Come on this way, I've been exploring this temple for a day now and I know a faster way back! Then I can have your sister take a look at my cheek."

Sokka's eyes just went wide in panic. "But how will we explain how it happened?"

"I'll just say I fell out of my chair! It isn't a lie, just a lack of the full truth." He laughed, although Sokka was relieved that this was settled and he could put it behind him, he did find it a little odd just how quickly Teo had forgiven him for punching him that hard. "And don't worry; your secret relationship is safe with me."

"Thanks, but why are you being so good about this? One minute you're screaming at me about all that stuff and the next you're coming up with stuff to cover my back!" Sokka asked with a curious tone.

"Well since you guys left the Air Temple we lived in, I had found some of the philosophy books that the Air Nomads wrote. It was very good stuff and I've been trying to practice some of their ideals." He remarked as they began to go slowly up the incline that the corridor had turned into. "Especially their number one ideal…"Forgiveness is the quickest was to peace. Whilst peace is the quickest way to Enlightenment."

"That does make sense…in a weird lofty speech kind of way." He said as he pondered to words of no doubt one of the first Airbending Masters. "I'm just glad Aang doesn't talk like that!"

The two boys just laughed in agreement that was soon followed by a few moments of awkward silence. There was obviously something still on Teo's mind that he either felt was inappropriate to say at the moment or was hiding something. "You sure are lucky though…"

"Huh?" Sokka grunted, had his previous thoughts on Teo's motives been right? Did her really have a crush on Toph?

"You've snagged the daughter of the richest family in the Earth Kingdom! You're set for life my friend!" He exclaimed, almost like he thought Sokka had been planning this or something.

Sokka just stopped in his tracks, causing Teo to stop as well and look back at him. "I'm going to try and not hit you again…" His eye rose to look at Teo with ferocity and anger. "Toph is not a prize to be won…her family was the last thing on my mind when I decided to be with her! I love her for her…not her money."

"Man I really suck at perceiving the situation don't I?" He said trying to defend himself.

Taking a deep breath, Sokka thought back to what Teo had quoted to him a few minutes ago. Releasing his breath he opened his eyes and looked visibly calmer. "Its fine, I know you didn't mean it like that." He said with a half smile, before moving behind Teo's wheelchair and grabbing the handles. "Here let me push you, it's the least I can do for punching you."

With that the two made their way to the top of the corridor and out of a wide opening and into another courtyard with a massive fountain at the center. Upon adjusting to the light of late afternoon, he noticed that Aang and Zuko seemed to be meditating on the rim of the fountain; both of them taking long and powerful breaths, obviously working on something to do with Firebending. "Where have you two been?" He heard Aang yell once he noticed them.

"Just checking out the temple again…but we decided to come back up when my chair flipped over a loose stone and I hurt my cheek." Teo said laying down their alibi.

"Oh I see, it is pretty cool in there, I've only been here once before but I had a lot of fun when I was here!" The Avatar remarked with a grin.

But Sokka wasn't smiling; he had a look of deep thought on his face once he had taken a look around. "Aang we need to get everyone together…I have some things to bring up with everyone…plans to make." He said before breaking out into a very Sokka smile. "After all I am the idea guy!" The Avatar nodded and grabbed his glider, within moments he was airborne and headed over to where Sokka guessed the majority of the rest of their group was. "Well…uh…I'm going to go get Toph. Seeing as how she really can't walk at the moment." He said with a glare at Zuko as he left, leaving the ex-Prince to wonder what he did exactly to Sokka to make him glare like that.

"Who's there?" Toph asked as she heard someone enter her room quietly. But she was greeted with a muffled curse as whoever it was stubbed their toe on a random rock. "Sokka?"

"Yeah…well we're safe for the moment. I had an interesting talk with Teo." He said as he basically fell into the spot he had been in before they were so rudely interrupted.

"What, did he have a crush on me or something?" She asked in a sarcastic and joking tone.

Sokka just laughed at her comment. "No, but I came up with that exact conclusion." A small blush materialized on his face as he quickly leaned in and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "We need to get going; I called a meeting for everyone so I can discuss some things and some plans."

Toph just nodded in agreement, her cheeks flustered in response to the out of the blue kiss he had given her. 'If I get this way in private, I wonder how bad it'll be once we tell everyone?' She thought to herself as she felt Sokka pick her up and hold her bridal style. She just smiled and laid her head against his chest and held her hand against it as well. But a sudden realization of what he said clicked in her love drunk mind. "Wait! Are you going to tell them about us?!"

Once again Sokka just laughed, the vibrations from it rattling through Toph's body, making her feel as one with him. The proximity made her feel as though it was her laugh and the heartbeat next to her ear was her's. They were one in her mind and it was the greatest feeling in the world to the Earthbender. "No, but I do have some things I need to talk to everyone about in relation to what we're going to do next."

Toph just nodded as he carried her out of her room and made his way back to the fountain where everyone would be waiting for them. But once again that was the last thing on Toph's mind; her imagination was going wild with the pose that they were in. The thoughts that one day Sokka might be carrying her like this for its reasons and not because she couldn't walk at the moment. A massive blush spread across her face as the possibilities of the future crossed her mind. 'No Toph! Now is not the time! There are bigger things going on! Just like what Sokka said earlier, this is bigger than we are and we need to do our part to end this war. I can fantasize all I want about my future after Aang has kicked the Fire Lord's royal ass!'

Everyone was awaiting Sokka and Toph at the fountain when they saw them emerge from the doorway that went to where they were all sleeping. Katara just smiled and leaned in close to Aang. "Don't they just look so cute together? I wonder if my talk with the two of them lead to anything?"

"What are you taking about? Are you messing with them again? I though we had enough of you and Toph bickering during her scams!" He replied, completely unaware of what was going on outside his agenda.

"Oh, never mind." She sighed as she watched Sokka caringly put Toph down at the edge of the fountain and put her feet in the cool water.

Clearing his throat, Sokka stood before everyone present. But generally keeping his gaze centered on the major players of their group. Aang was right in front of him with Zuko and Katara flanking him in an obvious attempt by Katara to make sure nothing happens to the Avatar. "Well I've been thinking a lot lately and I've come to a conclusion about what we need to do before we will be able to make an attempt on the Fire Lord again…"

Everyone leaned in to hear what he had on his mind, bit Teo just sat back in his chair with a smile on his face. "We need to rescue everyone who was captured on the Day of Black Sun!" He said firmly, holding his fist clenched in his other hand.

"What!?" Katara basically shrieked. "Are you saying that we go back to where we were defeated and risk getting captured ourselves?"

"Um…actually." Zuko began to say but was quickly silenced as Katara stood up with a glare at him, shifting her gaze to Sokka she continued her rant.

"Aang needs to learn Firebending! What chance do you think we have at going back to the Capital to try and save them without the eclipse!? I want to get Dad out of there, but we need to concentrate on Aang right now!" She clearly wanted for Aang's Firebending training to be a brief as possible so that Zuko could leave as soon as possible as well.

"Actually…prisoner's captured on the Capital Island are sent to a special Prison Barge that is meant for high risk and high profile prisoners." Zuko said quietly, almost as if he didn't want to bring up the wrath of Katara.

"I knew they would do something like that…" Sokka said with a grin before turning back to Katara who was glaring daggers at Zuko. "We can't stay for too long in one place and you know that, you really don't think this is one of the first places they would check if they were looking for the Avatar again?" Zuko just nodded, it had been his mentality when he had first started to search for the Avatar and it would no doubt be Azula's mentality as well. "Zuko can teach Aang as we go, like how Toph did with Earthbending. Even you taught him some Waterbending as we traveled." He then turned to Zuko, a grin on his face that could only mean he was excited about all the information he was going to pull out of the boy…to see just how truthful he was about doing anything to end the war. "Zuko…what is Azula going to do first?"

"She'll come here, I came here first when I was first banished and sent on the hunt…" He said only to feel the glare from Katara double. "I mean…the search for the Avatar." He bumbled out before turning back to Sokka. "She'll do the same thing, this is the most logical place to come after being in the Fire Nation."

"Any information on that Prison Barge's whereabouts?" Sokka continued with his information gathering, a plan already formulating in his head.

"Yeah it circles the entire continent of the Fire Nation, to make it easy to transport prisoners there. The last I heard it had been sent to Ember Island to pick up an Admiral's son for some minor crimes, a way to scare him straight or something. That was about a week ago…so it should be…" He said before tilting his head back in thought. "Around there!" He said as he pointed to an area on the north west of the Fire Nation. A fair distance in open water, but it was rather close to where they were. "It should be refueling at this small Island for about a week."

Sokka's face just lit up, the plan formulating in his head would be perfect for the assault of the Barge. "Okay then, everyone should get a good night sleep tonight, we head out tomorrow morning! I'll get into the exact details when we leave."

Katara just looked at Aang, trying to see if he supported the plan Sokka was coming up with. "You heard him everyone, let's get some rest. It's getting late." With that the Avatar yawned and leapt high, landing on Appa's massive tail.

Katara just grumbled something about getting some final supplies if they were leaving and went off and into the corridor Teo and Sokka had come out of earlier in the day. "Where did she go?" Sokka asked Teo as once everyone had gone off to get some rest. Toph was grinning as she clung to his chest once again.

"Oh, I found a big supply closet on the side of the All-Day-Echo Chamber…you know that big room we went through earlier." He replied but was confused as to why Sokka's mouth was not wide open in shock.

"Shit…" He said under his breath.

Meanwhile Katara was still grumbling as she came towards the entrance to the echoing chamber, pausing for a moment when she thought she heard Sokka's voice. "What the?"

To her surprise she heard what Sokka had shouted to Teo as he ran through it earlier. "**Teo please! Toph and I want to keep our relationship secret at the moment! We didn't mean for anyone to see us like that!**"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Ohh, Katara knows now! Plus she's pissed that Sokka is listening to Zuko! What will happen next, and what is Sokka's plan to save the rest of the Invasion force?**

**Find out next time! Please review, they make me want to write more!**

**And Happy New Year!!**


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